Dwight Howard's struggles at the free-throw line are well documented, but Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni is sticking with his big man late in games. (AP Photo)

"He'll make his foul shots. I've got faith in him. If everybody plays hard and if that's how we go down, then we'll go down that way."

Howard is converting just 48.3 percent of his free throws, third worst in the league behind Andre Drummond (36.5) and DeAndre Jordan (41.1) among players with at least 100 attempts.

D'Antoni believes Howard is too important defensively in crunch time. He'd rather roll the dice with his big man on offense and maintain an inside presence than abandon the post late—even if that means the possibility of Howard winding up with the ball when the team needs a 3-pointer.

"We know how to get around that," he said. "That's not a big deal."

That was the case Friday against the Raptors. Howard briefly fielded a pass from Steve Nash before tossing it back to the point guard, who went on to hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds remaining. The Lakers went on to win in overtime, 118-116.